McGinnis: Detroit Film Theatre presents nominated short subjects

The first dog ever created meets the first man ever created. A man thinking of suicide is asked to babysit his niece. An aging concert pianist searches for his wife. Maggie Simpson — yes, that Maggie Simpson — is forced to survive a stay at the Ayn Rand School for Tots.

It’s safe to say that the nominees for Best Animated and Live Action Short Film at this year’s Academy Awards are somewhat eclectic in subject matter. And area film fans will have the chance to experience them all at the Detroit Film Theatre (DFT) before the Feb. 24 Oscar ceremony.

Continuing a tradition that began in 2006, the DFT — part of the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) — will present all 10 films nominated in both categories in a one-night program every weekend, through Feb. 17. Elliot Wilhelm, the film curator of the DIA, said in an interview with Toledo Free Press Star, said that the event is consistently one of the theater’s most popular, regularly selling out.

“The program does well all around the country. But one of the things that seems to be most appealing to Detroiters is that we present it all in one big program, rather than dividing the live action and animation into two separate performances. In most cities, you have to buy a ticket to go to either one or the other, and two tickets if you want to see both. But we feel that people want to make an evening of it, or day of it,” Wilhelm said.

But for true Oscar completists, at least one more trip will be required. This year, for the first time, the DFT will be showing all five nominees in the Best Documentary Short category, as well, in a one-time performance on Thursday, Feb. 21 at 8 p.m.

“One of the reasons we have to do that is, at a certain point, it simply becomes too long. The program with the live action shorts and the animated shorts, just this year with the 10 nominees, comes to about three hours. Which is eminently doable for an audience, particularly with a break in the middle. The documentary program this year, all by itself, runs close to four hours,” Wilhelm said.

“The thing is, you never really know what those running times are gonna be when you book the program, because we don’t know what’s gonna be nominated. But this year, the nominees in the documentary category just ended up being exceptionally long, whereas the nominees in the animation category are as short as two minutes this year.”

Another unknown is how popular the documentaries will be in comparison to their fictional counterparts. While the showing of the traditional shorts has consistently been one of the institute’s most popular events, Wilhelm noted how the performance of the docs is a bit of a gamble, though a measured one.

“Documentaries have been taken much more seriously and have been much more successful in terms of getting theatrical releases and doing well in the box office department than they have in decades past. So I absolutely have high hopes for that program.”

Wilhelm, who gets to screen all the nominees in advance, was ecstatic at the quality of the films being presented, though he declined to name any personal favorites. But one thing he will endorse without reservation is the experience of seeing the films again with a full house in his theater.

“Watching them again with the audience, they’re very different what it was than what I experienced when I was watching them alone. I may have a personal reaction to them, but then you realize how they work on an audience, and how each audience has a different personality — every night, every performance, of all the films we show, there’s a different response. It may be similar, but it’s always slightly different. And audiences are like a living thing, they do have personality.”

Indeed, in an era where more distribution options are open to filmmakers than ever before, one thing people often miss out on is the chance to see films with a crowd — which, naturally, is the movies’ natural habitat.

“If you’re watching films like this that do tend to get a real response from an audience — some of them are really funny, some of them are very poignant — but if you’re seeing these movies with a thousand other people, it’s a totally transformative thing, because the audience has personality. And it’s not like sitting there watching them on TV in your living room, and you may react one way and it’s all something you keep to yourself.

“It reminds you of the great days of moviegoing, and that there’s real joy in audiences coming together to see a movie,” Wilhelm said.

Detroit Institute of Arts celebrating 125 years

The Detroit Institute of Arts will celebrate 125 years with “DIA@125, a Gala,” a black tie event at the museum on Nov. 13.

From 6 p.m. – 12:30 a.m. guests will dine, dance and celebrate the DIA and its 125 years as a “cultural gem” of Detroit, said Graham Beal, director of the Detroit Institute of Arts.

“It’s usually quite an event,” he said.

To kick off the evening, Beal and other DIA officials will hold a brief program and a special tribute to longtime DIA supporters Alan and Marianne Schwartz.

The Schwartz’s are “significant figures in the Detroit cultural world,” Beal said, and have contributed ample time, resources and paintings to the museum for more than 50 years.

The DIA was established as the Detroit Museum of Art in March 1885. Originally located on Jefferson Avenue, it was moved to Woodward Avenue in 1927. Two wings were added to the building in the ‘60s and ‘70s, and it underwent massive renovation from 1999 to 2007.

“There’s hardly a cubic inch that wasn’t affected by it,” Beal said.

A video montage of the museum’s history will play throughout the night, Beal said, showing the changing of the building on Jefferson Avenue.

More than 60,000 works are housed at the DIA, including four van Gogh paintings and six Renoir works. In 1887 it became the first museum in the country to house a van Gogh painting. The DIA is known for the range and caliber of its collection, Beal said, which features works from around the world.

“Our permanent collection is one of the finest in the country,” Beal said. “There’s nowhere in time or geography that we won’t go looking for art.”

Beal said the gala will be an elegant, lively affair with dinner, dessert and dancing into the night.

Guests will be seated for dinner in three spaces of the museum: the Great Hall, Rivera Court and Kresge Court. Four ticket levels are offered. For $2,500 and $1,000 ticketholders, the evening begins with a VIP cocktail hour at 6 p.m. followed by a gourmet three-course meal. The $600 tickets, which also include dinner, are sold out. Late-night party tickets can be purchased for $125 and include a dessert buffet and drinks starting at 10 p.m. in the Prentis Court, and dancing to tunes by DJ Rock City, a Chicago-based DJ.

But “DIA@125, a Gala” is not the only way patrons can help the DIA celebrate its anniversary. Museum curators have chosen to highlight 125 great works throughout the museum. Art lovers can pick up a map and special brochure upon entrance to aid them in their quest to find the 125 chosen pieces.

Promotional specials are also being offered to celebrate the big anniversary. Yearly DIA affiliate memberships are now on special for $125, down from $180, and include free admission to more than 400 North American museums.

To learn more about the DIA visit www.dia.org. For gala tickets call 313-833-7967.